Father Knows Best

Father Knows Best is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by Ed James, Father Knows Best follows the lives of the Andersons, a middle-class family living in the town of Springfield. The state in which Springfield is located is never specified, but it is generally accepted to be located in the Midwestern United States.^[1]

This article is about the American radio and television sitcom. For other uses, see Father Knows Best (disambiguation).

Father Knows Best

Sitcom

Ed James

Peter Tewksbury

United States

English

6

203

Murray Bolen
Ken Burton
Fran Van Hartesfeldt

26 minutes

Rodney-Young Productions
Screen Gems

CBS (1954–1955, 1958–1960)
NBC (1955–1958)

October 3, 1954 (1954-10-03) –
May 23, 1960 (1960-05-23)

The television series debuted on CBS in October 1954. It ran for one season and was canceled by CBS but picked up by NBC, where it remained for three seasons. After cancellation by NBC in 1958, the series returned to CBS, where it aired until May 1960.

James "Jim" Anderson Sr.:

Robert Young

Margaret Anderson:

Jane Wyatt

Betty "Princess" Anderson:

Elinor Donahue

James "Bud" Anderson Jr.:

Billy Gray

Kathy "Kitten" Anderson:

Lauren Chapin

In a September 2010 episode of the CBS daytime television series The Young and the Restless, newlyweds Billy and Victoria Abbott (portrayed by and Amelia Heinle, respectively) buy a house (exterior located on old Columbia Movie Ranch that was actually used in Father Knows Best and I Dream of Jeannie) that replicates the interior of the Anderson home on a sound stage. They watch Father Knows Best on DVD and often call each other "Jim" and "Margaret." At her wedding, which takes place in the house, Victoria chooses a 1950s-style white dress. Judge Anderson, the minister who marries the couple, was played by Donahue.

Billy Miller

The town of in The Simpsons is named after the Springfield in Father Knows Best.^[12]

Springfield

Nielsen ratings[edit]

The series finished in the Nielsen ratings at No. 25 for the 1957–1958 season, No. 14 for 1958–1959 and No. 6 for 1959–1960.^[13]

Syndication[edit]

Father Knows Best aired in the 1980s on Superstation WTBS and in the 1990s on The Family Channel. The show also aired on TV Land from 1998 to 1999 and 2002–2004. Reruns of Father Knows Best have aired on Antenna TV as part of that channel's regular programming schedule since January 3, 2011, and it also aired weekday afternoons on digital subchannel ME-TOO in Chicago. Father Knows Best is currently broadcast weekday mornings on fetv, GAC Family and GAC Living. It is also available for free streaming on the Vudu and Amazon Prime Video services.

. Los Angeles: Shout! Factory. 2011. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 16, 2011.

"Shout! Factory Store"

. TVshowsondvd.com. Vancouver: Pacific Online. January 13, 2008. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved October 16, 2011.

Father Knows Best